How We Play
by charrrmed
Summary: Damon and Bonnie are on the verge of something more. Damon asks her to play pool, and their time is interrupted by Bonnie's friend Luka. This is a take on how Damon would have handled to interruption.


**Summary: Damon and Bonnie are on the verge of something more. Damon asks her to play pool, and their time is interrupted by Bonnie's friend Luka. **

**A/N: This is written for lom1585 at the Bamon Drabble Party on livejournal.**

**The Prompt**: Bonnie and Damon on the edge of something more, so substituting Jeremy with Damon how would Damon have handled Luka interrupting a game of pool with Bonnie while they are hanging out but also has the feel of a date.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own the characters.

How We Play

Bonnie fixed her eyes on the cue ball. She was going to score this time. She could feel it. She thrusted the cue stick and missed the ball completely. "Damn it!" she said, her words laced with frustration as she straightened.

Damon pursed his lips in amusement before asking, "What the hell's wrong with your hand-eye coordination? Aren't you a cheerleader?"

"Shut up," she said curtly and moved to stand to the side.

Damon laughed again and shook his head. He swaggered up to line up his shot.

The more he scored, the more obnoxious he became, and the more everything he did annoyed Bonnie. She put a hand on her hip, cocked her head to consider him, and asked, "How can you enjoy winning against someone who sucks?"

"Because winning's winning," Damon said as if it should have been obvious.

"Oh, really," Bonnie deadpanned. She watched his face sober up in concentration as he strategized. She had been taken aback when he'd asked her to join him in shooting some pool. Her brows had come together in confusion. Her rapport with Damon had evolved past the point where she became suspicious anytime he so much as initiated conversation with her. In her opinion, it wasn't that they had grown closer. Things had just settled down between them though there were some intense flare ups now and again. Meetings on how to handle the big bad of the month would come to a complete halt for _hours_ because Bonnie would disagree with Damon's plans, he'd ask her what she knew about strategizing and putting together complex plans, she'd respond that she knew nothing except what worked and what didn't, and an argument would ensue. Stefan had stopped playing mediator and interpreter, because he had realized that they just ignored what he said. Caroline followed suit by putting a stop to her telling them to save it for later. Now whenever they argued, she just used the time to go get coffee with Tyler. Tyler once told them to shut up and go with Damon's plan, and Damon came back with "What the fuck?" so Tyler too had given up. Alaric never bothered to butt in. Elena was the only one still trying. Sometimes, the whole group got involved, some taking Damon's side, and others taking Bonnie's. Damon would point out that she's bringing discord to the group, and a whole new thread of argument would start.

She supposed that the distance between them had also helped in calming things between them. She was going to college miles away from Mystic Falls although that never stopped Damon from showing up on her campus in the 3 years she'd been there. She had grown to being touched by that. Which might explain why she had found faults with the outfit she'd chosen to wear to class and changed it before meeting him for pool.

Damon brought her attention back to the game when he annoyingly announced what he was going to do. She really was having fun, barring the fact that she was freaking losing to _Damon_. It's not that she's a sore loser. She's lost in plenty games to her other friends. But once again, Damon brings about an altogether different reaction from her.

Bonnie smirked as an idea came to her. She leaned on her stick, put her index and middle finger together, and waited for Damon to take his shot. He took it, and she moved her fingers, and the ball flew off the table.

It wasn't often that Damon looked genuinely and openly confused, but this was one of those precious times.

"Hmm," Bonnie said with mock puzzlement. She walked and picked up the ball. When she turned around, Damon was looking at her accusingly.

"You used your powers," he said.

Bonnie lifted a bare shoulder. "Playing's playing," she said smugly. She walked up to him and sing-songed, "Move," while shooing him with the hand holding the ball.

"Why?" Damon scoffed. "It's not like you're going to do anything with the space."

Bonnie was bending down, but she straightened at his barb. "You're obnoxious."

"And you're a sore loser," Damon said, his eyes dancing. He got close to her. "And the next time you cheat, I'm taking a point off your score."

Bonnie's eyes widened slightly in alarm. She looked back at the board, her measly 14 points to his 46 written in chalk. She turned to him and glared. "You wouldn't _dare_."

Damon smiled in mirth, and Bonnie was distracted for a second. "Call my bluff. You know how I _love_ it when you do that," he said, swaying towards her as if he was tipsy.

She swallowed, tilting her head back to keep him in her line of sight. He didn't need to bend his head closer to tell her that, nor did he need to make it sound not so innocent.

"Hey, guys," someone said.

When Damon looked, he saw that it was Luka. He had met the guy earlier, but he wasn't going to forget his name. Not when Bonnie had been too eager to make conversation with him when they had walked by him, and he'd said hi to her. She had started talking about how hard some test they had taken was, he'd agreed, and they'd started talking. She had made the introductions all the while unable to keep her teeth hidden. He had assessed Luka and seen that he was interested in her too. But that wasn't his concern. His concern was the curly haired witch whose face just lit up at Luka's intrusion.

"Hey," Bonnie said with a smile. Luka was in her Aristotle class. He was a warlock, and he has been her friend for 2 months. She loved to stare at him, and if the vision she had had 2 weeks ago was any indication, he thinks about her too.

"Hi," Damon said with a fake smile.

"I play winner?" he asked, only sparring a glance at Damon. He knew the vampire didn't look at everyone the way he was currently looking at him now. He certainly had not been looking at Bonnie like that.

Damon looked at Bonnie from the sides of his eyes as she asked, "Are you a good player?"

"Yeah," Luka said with a shrug. "I play with my dad all the time."

The smile faded from Bonnie's face, and it was all too flirtatious for Damon's liking. "Well, isn't that good to know," he said with too much interest for anyone to believe he meant it. "Unfortunately, this is a two person game. When she loses, we're just going to start the game all over again." And with that Damon looked at Bonnie to play, a clear signal from his end that the conversation was over.

Luka jerked his head back and blinked twice at Damon's forwardness. So, he was that kind of guy.

Bonnie was no longer smiling, flirtatiously or otherwise. She looked at Damon with clear aggravation though she stopped herself from reprimanding him in front of Luka. This was not the time. Besides, she wanted Luka to join them. Who the hell was Damon to say no?

"Luka, you can play with us. Damon just keeps making fun of me, and who knows? I might have a chance at beating you in another round."

Luka smiled at her, and she loved it. However, she saw that he had taken offense at Damon's attitude.

Damon had stopped fighting the fact that he _hates_ it whenever _anyone_ butts into his time with Bonnie. It doesn't matter what kind of shape his time with Bonnie takes. It can be an argument, anything. He's always stumped at the reasons people feel the need to but in as if they don't have her attention 95% of the time. This jerk goes to school with her, _has a class with her_, so why the hell is he talking to her while she's with him?

"You're not welcomed to play with us, Luka," and the warning in his voice was crystal clear. He dared him to stick around.

"Are you _kidding_ me?" Bonnie whirled to face him, appalled at his nerve, a hand flying to rest on her hip.

"Hey, it's okay," Luka said with a chuckle, raising his hands. "It's not a problem."

"Yes, it is," Bonnie told him.

"We'll just play another time," he said, looking at Bonnie. "How about this next Friday? I can teach you for the next time you go up against him."

Damon narrowed his eyes at the guy, a smirk of his lips. He had balls, and he of all people could appreciate that.

Bonnie's mouth slightly dropped. "Um." She didn't dare look at Damon. He had not flown across the table lunging for Luka's throat, so that was a good sign. "Yeah," she said with a lift of her shoulder. "That's sounds great."

Damon's hand tightened on the cue stick.

Luka smiled and nodded. "Great. See you around." His smiled faded appropriately when he addressed Damon. "Good running into you again."

Damon watched him until he left the room. He stood immobile until Bonnie tapped his chest with the back of her hand. He looked down at her.

"Let's play," she said, while looking up at him.

He widened his stance. "Yes. Let's."

They stood looking at each other for a second too long, Bonnie catching on quickly that Damon was not talking about pool. She was the one who broke contact eye contact.

She bent down and lined up her shot.


End file.
